What is it you wish for?
by Ki-nee-chan
Summary: Can you imagine being unable to even hold an xbox controller? What if you biggest dream was to be able to walk in the grass? What if this was Joey's reality, yes, that Joey, until he met a certain girl? Three shot! Please review! Final chapter up!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

What is it you wish for?

_Who's to say where the boundary between reality and fantasy lie?_

A young boy leaned back sitting on a bench in the sunshine directly in front of a fully blooming flower box. Nearby a gentle water fountain sparkled, spraying its clean, clear water towards the cloudless sky, only to fall back to the pool below it as though it were a water fall. This boy wore a black cap with a golden stripe streaking through the center. His cap was on backwards, allowing for his equally black bangs to force their way through the hole in the back.

As he stretched, his ever faithful companion jumped up to the other side of the bench. He had blue-ish colored fur on the upper half of his body yet his underside was a soft creamy tan. On top his head he wore a single bright red spot, and on his behind the creature bore several more spots. "Quii…" he called to its trainer. The creature took his head and gently rubbed it against the boy's red jacket. The boy, in return, reached up and rubbed the creature's head.

There was a loud click, followed by a painfully loud, flat, screeching tone. A voice followed and echoed through the peaceful park. "Attention guests!" a voice resonated throughout the park. "The bug catching contest will start in thirty-minutes. Those who have not yet registered for the event are asked to do so immediately at either of the two park lodges. Those who will not be participating in today's event are asked to vacate the premises for the duration of the contest."

The young boy heard the memo and simply stretched. His Quilava continued to beg for more petting by gently ramming its head into the boy's side for attention. The boy jumped when he felt his PokeGear attached to his wrist vibrate. He glanced at the device and sighed before pressing a button on the side. "Hi Joey…" he barely muttered into the PokeGear.

"Hey Gold! Listen to this! My Rattata just took down a Pidgey! It's got to be in the top percentile!" a younger boy's voice digitally resounded through the small wrist device.

"Is that all you wanted to say Joey?" Gold asked with a slight hint of foreboding dread. He already knew the answer to that question.

"Well, now that you mention it, the two of us took down another Rattata last night! It was awesome, barely took a hit!" Joey continued ecstatically.

Gold sighed before responding. "Wow… I'm so glad for you…"

"What's wrong? You sound kind of sleepy." Joey innocently inquired, finally catching up on Gold's flat demeanor.

Gold sighed again, "It's nothing, I need to get to my bug catching contest. Bye"

"Oh, in that case good lu-" Joey's voice was cut off by Gold pressing the end call button.

Gold leaned back on the bench and reached his arm around his Quilava, gently petting its shoulder, "Quilava… Joey's really annoying. He talks about his Rattata like he's bragging about a girlfriend. Why doesn't the PokeGear have a call blocker option?" Gold rambled aloud, "Only twenty-seven minutes to go before that contest starts. A nap sounds nice."

On the other side of that phone call a young boy who looked no older than ten stood in knee deep grass alongside a tree lined path. "Let's see, Rati. Who else should we call?" he asked the small purple rat that was patiently curled up beside his feet. The young boy was smiling ear to ear holding his PokeGear only a couple of inches away from his face. He wore a simple white T-shirt without any writing, a faded blue pair of baggy jean shorts and a long necklace with a relatively large, lumpy, gray stone attached. He scrolled through his contact list and selected another member of his phone book and gleefully repeated the phone call. The small Rattata looked up at the bright blue sky through the grass before lying her head down on her arms and closing her eyes to sleep.

Rati just enjoyed the warm light and soft wind, she only stirred slightly as Joey's PokeGear rang. She continued to keep her eyes shut and ignore everything as Joey whispered and an electronic voice responded.

"Hey, Rati, wake up. Mom just called, it's time for lunch," Joey gently whispered as he reached down and softly pet her short fur. Rati woke up. She slowly opened her eyes, stood on all fours, yawned and stretched. Once she had somewhat woken up she hopped into Joey's open hand, crawled up his arm, passed his shoulder and placed herself on his head.

The house they lived in was simple, with beige walls and brown window sills outlining only some of the windows. Joey ran in through the front door and quickly kicked off his shoes before dashing up to the dining room table. He pulled a stool away from the kitchen bar and placed it next to the table so Rati could jump up. Rati politely stared at the table, waiting patiently while Joey slid into his chair right beside her stool.

"Get that rat away from the table, now Joey," a woman growled as she approached the table carrying two bowls full of a yellow soup.

"Rati has as much right to sit at the table as you and I!" Joey growled back as his mom placed the steaming soup in front of him.

"She's a rat! Only humans sit at the dining table," his mom growled as she retreated into the kitchen.

"But she used to be human!" Joey retaliated in Rati's defense.

"Oh please, not this story again," she sighed exhaustedly, placing a freshly baked loaf of bread on the table with two glasses of milk.

"But it's true!" Joey shouted.

His mom returned for the last time with two spoons in one hand and a plate with two older slices of bread covered in peanut butter which was placed on the ground. "If she wants to eat, she's going to have to go to the floor," she muttered sliding into her chair.

Rati obstinately sat on the stool and quietly watched both Joey and his mother eat; only swishing her tail back and forth. Once lunch was done Joey cleared away the plates and put the extra bread in a wooden box while his mother started washing the dishes. All the while Rati sat on the stool, patiently watching.

When he thought his mother wasn't looking Joey snuck the peanut butter bread onto the table, towards the edge where Rati could eat off the table without leaving her stool. Rati got about one-fourth of the one slice of bread finished before Joey's mother placed the bread back on the floor.

"I will not have a rat eat off my table!" she exclaimed at the top of her lungs.

Joey huffed and then picked the plate off the floor and called to Rati, "Rati, let's go out and eat where mom won't yell at you!"

As Joey ran towards the door, Rati right behind, his mother yelled, "I'm not yelling at Rati, I'm yelling at you! You're training a Pokemon, not a child!" with that, the door was slammed. "Remember to bring that plate back in one piece!"

Sitting outside on the same path as before Joey grumbled while Rati quickly ate her bread. Joey closed his eyes and remembered a couple of years ago a young girl, the same age as him hopping in through his window with a slice of bread in her mouth, and a lump of gray stone around her neck. It was a sunny day, exactly like today.

_A/N: Next chapter will have a plot twist; I hope you look forward to it. I should have it up tomorrow afternoon to tomorrow evening. My original goal was to post it exactly 24 hours after each other but some stuff came up that's much more important._

_I've actually had this in my computer since October/November. I had typed it while waiting for my brother to finish his class. I just forgot that I had it all set and done. XD_

_Thanks to Temp 777 who Beta'ed this, made it more grammatically readable and gave me wonderful tips!  
_

_**Please review**__, let me know what you think, what I can do better._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

What is it you desire?

_What is real to one person may not be to another._

The day had not a single cloud in the sky and only a soft hint of a breeze. A young boy was pushed down a paved path in a wheel chair by a middle aged woman. They entered the only medical building in the small town.

Shortly after, the boy in the wheelchair was lifted by the middle-aged woman onto an examination bed at the office. A man slightly younger than the woman walked into the room and happily greeted the boy. "Hey Joey!" he lifted his hand towards the young boy, and the boy, Joey, immediately attempted to 'hi five' back. It was difficult, because his hands were crumpled inwards and could barely leave his chest.

"What's up today Joey?" the doctor asked the boy optimistically.

"His legs have gotten bluer," the woman interjected.

"Oh? Do you mind if I take a look Joey?"

Joey shook his head, and the doctor proceeded to roll the boys pant legs up. The young, eight-year-old, boy had shockingly thin, ghostly pale legs with a faint blue hue.

"Well would you look at that…" the doctor pondered out loud. He gently touched the clammy legs. "Joey, can you feel my hand?"

Joey shook his head again.

The doctor leaned back slightly and wrote a couple of notes in his folder.

"Well Doctor?" the woman, Joey's mother, asked impatiently.

"I'm going to prescribe a low dose of Viagra."

"Viagra?" The mother gasped. She apparently didn't feel very fond of this idea.

"Yes. Its original purpose was to improve blood flow, which it does so excellently. And in Joey's case, being so sedimentary has led to blood not leaving the legs. I want him to stay in bed as much as possible with his legs raised until the blood flow starts returning to the heart."

Without further ado, the mother shuffled her son into the wheelchair and left. Joey was very quickly taken back home and placed into his bed. He lay there with his arms tightly curled towards his body and his disfigured hands curled in towards his chest.

"I'm going to make some lunch, Joey. Your father will be bringing home your prescription soon. Yell if you need me," she muttered sweetly before closing the door.

Joey sat gazing through his sunny, open window. Only a few minutes later a young girl of about eight-years hopped through the window and softly landed on her feet. She had strange purple colored hair, abnormally large ears and bright red eyes,

"Can I hide here?" she asked emphasizing 'here' strangely, probably due to the large slice of bread in her mouth.

"Huh?" Joey responded, still in surprise at a random purple haired girl hopping into his window.

The young girl hunkered down under the window, just enough to be out of sight from the other side. She grabbed the bread out of her mouth and asked again, "Can I hide here?"

"I guess you already are…" Joey responded.

At this point a group of boys who looked to be in their early teens stormed passed the window. One looked through the window, only to see Joey looking back, and then continued running.

"Phew," she sighed in relief. "I thought they were going to catch me…" The young girl sat up and popped the bread back into her mouth.

"Why were you running from them to start with?" Joey inquired the strange girl.

She first forced the rest of the bread into her mouth before muffling back with her stuffed cheeks, "They baited me with bread, I didn't suspect a thing! Then the next thing I knew, there were these Pokemon looking at me like they were going to fight, so I ran. Usually that works, but they followed this time! This was the first open window I found, so I took refuge here." She finally swallowed the mouthful.

"What kind of game is that?"

"The normal kind," she shrugged, "Not really sure you can call it a game though." The young girl wore a pair of faded, tattered blue jean overalls, over a simple light purple shirt. She also wore a long necklace with a rather large unpolished, gray stone as a pendant that almost reached her belly button. "The sun is up and it's midday! Why are you still in bed?" the girl asked.

Joey looked down solemnly at the blankets covering his legs and then the wheel chair next to his bed, "I have to stay in bed until mom helps me out."

"Hm?" the girl responded curiously only to take a couple of steps towards Joey's bed and grasp his hand. She then tried to forcefully uncurl the hand.

"How weird…" she muttered.

"Can you cut that out?" Joey ordered more than asked, and the young girl immediately stopped.

"You're weird," She muttered before examining Joey's room.

"Like your one to talk, Miss Big-Ears," Joey returned spitefully.

"Just means I can hear better then you," she responded nonchalantly. She started poking the buttons on the television.

"What's your name anyway?" Joey asked the girl.

"You can call me Rati if you want. I don't care," she muttered, continuing to poke at the buttons on the television, only to jump back when it turned on and started advertising towels. "Woah…." She muttered, holding her chest with her hand and reaching out to repress the power button.

"You're really strange, y'know?" Joey muttered, watching the over the top reaction.

"Thank you very much," Rati responded with a smile, as if she had just been complimented. She turned on the television, this time prepared for any sudden noise. What she got was two people tearfully making out, "Now that's weird," she muttered turning the TV off again.

"You're telling me," Joey muttered and shrugged.

"Why did they do that?" Rati asked inquisitively.

"I don't know, I didn't watch the episode," Joey sighed.

"What were they doing anyway?"

"They were kissing, don't you know that much?" Joey explained, slightly shocked at Rati's cluelessness.

"Kissing…." Rati muttered, turning the TV back on, a different couple was on the screen and the girl was throwing objects off the table at the guy with a heavy laugh track in the background. Rati once again turned off the TV.

"You're going to break my TV, you know?"

"Really?" A smirk spread across Rati's face, exposing a bad case of buck teeth. She then proceeded to rapidly press the power button over and over again.

"STOP IT!" Joey shouted.

"Make me!" Rati teased with a mischievous smile.

Tears welled up in Joey's eyes as he began to cry. Rati was compelled to stop smiling when she saw this. "No, no! That was supposed to be funny, make you get up and play!" Rati muttered apologetically as she walked over with her hands out in front of her, wondering how she could prevent Joey from crying anymore.

Joey heaved a hearty sniff, "I told you, I can't get out of bed unless mom helps me out."

There was a knock at the door, "Joey is something wrong? I heard you yelling," his mother's voice was softened by the closed door.

Joey sniffed and then responded, "It was nothing Mom. Just the TV."

"Okay, well how about I get you into your chair," she responded, opening the door. And then she saw Rati. There was a screech that could be heard a mile away. She screamed, pointing dramatically at Rati. Rati in response winced and covered her ears before hopping out the window.

"Mom, you didn't need to scream that loud! You scared her!" Joey yelled.

"You can never be too careful with that kind of filth Joey! I never want to see 'her' in here again, are we clear?"

"Why?"

"Trash like that will make you sicker."

_**A/N: **__wow Joey's Mom likes Rati quite a bit, huh? Well some things don't change no matter how much time passes._

_The first part of his chapter was actually added in after I finished the final chapter (which I will be posting tomorrow at the exact 24 hour mark) for those wondering what Joey has….. He's a "incomplete" quadriplegic, meaning he had something wrong with his spinal cord and he can't control any of his four limbs but still retains the ability to move slightly, such as moving a arm from the shoulder, even if very slightly. For more information, google it! You'll feel smarter if nothing else._

_Just got done with my boy friend's grandfathers funeral. Amazing how I barely knew the man and I'm still left horribly depressed... I hate funerals...  
_

_Once again, thank you Temp 777 For beta-ing!  
_

**Please, please, review!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I will give them both to you.

_Your reality is controlled by your perceptions_

So much for never seeing Rati again; the following day Rati hopped right through his window, "Hi ya," she said with a bright smile.

"Mom said I'm not allowed to see you anymore…"

"So? No one said that _I_ couldn't see _you_ so it should be fine," she smiled.

"I'm not sure that's the way it works Rati," Joey shrugged.

The two sat and talked for an hour before Joey's mother entered the room and screamed. This routine lasted for two weeks.

"Rati, do you have a dream?" Joey asked.

"Of course I do, and I'm living it right now!" Rati smiled.

"What kind of dream is it?"

"I wanted to see what the world looked like when it's not framed by the grass. I wanted to sit on top of tree branches like a bird and look down on the grass. I wanted to confidently walk on the stone paths. I wanted to have a deep sleep, not having to worry about someone walking up on me. The only thing I want that I haven't had is more of your mom's peanut butter bread!"

"Those kind of wishes are weird," Joey noted. "Just like you, I guess."

"Hmmmm. If my wishes are so weird, what's yours?" Rati asked looking at Joey.

"I guess I want to stand up on my own, feel the grass under my feet. Run until I'm gasping for breath and my legs are burning," he described.

Rati quietly looked at Joey's legs under the blankets. Rati grasped her stone pendant and continued to gaze at Joey's legs before unnaturally, suddenly looking at the door and hopping out the window.

Seconds later Joey's mother stepped through the door with two plates of food, "Huh, I thought Rati was here. I brought her some Peanut butter bread that she seemed to like."

At these words Rati's head outside the window peered inward, cautiously towards Joey's mom.

Joey's mom sighed and placed Joey's food on the small table beside his bed and walked towards the window.

She took two slices of bread, covered in peanut butter, open mouth style, pealed them off the plate and placed both of them into Rati's hands before Rati scurried off.

"I need to find you a better friend since this filth doesn't seem to be going anywhere soon," she muttered as she walked back towards Joey.

"Mom, don't call Rati filth," the boy told his mother, defending his friend.

"Filth is filth, no more, no less," his mother explained curtly as if it was obvious. "Anyway I got a couple of grilled cheese sandwiches for you," she sat down on the bed. She forced a piece of the sandwich in Joey's crumpled hands.

Joey quietly ate the sandwiches he was given.

The following day Rati quietly hopped through the window. Her hair and clothes were sopping wet as a thunderstorm ragged outside. "Hey Joey, the time I've spent coming to your house has made me so happy."

"What's this all of a sudden?" Joey asked, slightly shocked with Rati's change of demeanor.

"Just promise, you won't forget Rati, okay?" Tears welled up in her crimson eyes.

"Rati, what's wrong? Rati?" Joey kept asking, concerned for his friend.

"Before I was the way you see me, I got this stone from my dad. He told me, 'it can grant any wish, but once it's removed the magic ends. Everything will return to the way it was'." Rati took her giant necklace off and gently tossed it into Joey's lap. "You're my favorite human, so make your wish come true," Rati continued to smile, though her body seemed to suddenly become transparent.

"RATI?" Joey shouted, rocking slightly in the bed attempting to force himself towards her. "RATI!" She had vanished from view. Joey continued to stare at the spot where Rati had last stood. "…Rati…"

"Joey what's wrong?" His mother asked opening the door without knocking.

"Mom, Rati, she just, just, just vanished," Joey muttered, he felt cold very cold.

"What are you talking about?" Joey's mom asked calmly.

"Rati! She was just here, she said something about wishes, and now she's gone!" Joey muttered with tears forming in his eyes.

"No she's not," His mother said gently, which confused Joey. "She fell asleep on the floor over here. You're being melodramatic." She leaned towards the floor and snapped her figures several times, "She's out of it. Must've had a hard time outside."

Joey stared at the foot of his bed before asking, "Mom, could you hand her to me?"

"I don't want you touching her, she's been in who knows what."

"Mom!"

"No, she'll wake up on her own without me touching her. So, with that said, let her sleep!" And with that Joey's mother stormed out of the room.

Joey tentatively reached for the stone Rati had thrown towards him before disappearing. As he grasped the stone he felt his arms and hands relax, a strange sensation flooded his body as suddenly he could feel the gentle movement of the air on his bare arms. The next sensation that overcame him was the intense need to stretch.

For the first time in his whole life, Joey lifted his arms above his head, placed them behind his head and leaned back. He could feel his muscles rejoice at the much needed movement. He then used his arms to pull the blankets off his legs. They looked healthy and well-toned. Joey wiggled his toes, bent his ankles and flexed his knees. Every sensation of movement was so foreign and new…and undeniably wonderful.

Cautiously he pulled his legs over the edge of the bed and gently placed his weight on his two legs without problem. It's as though he had always been able to stand. Slowly he walked towards the end of his bed, keeping his hand on his bed though he never wobbled of tripped. Reaching the end of the bed, he found a small Rattata was curled into a ball sleeping heavily.

"Rati?" he gently called.

Rati barely opened her eyes in response.

"Rati?" he called again, slowly reaching towards her.

She gently rubbed her head against his hand once before closing her eyes and falling back asleep. Joey reached out and softly stroked Rati's fur.

The door suddenly opened, Joey's mom was holding two plates of food, both which she dropped as she took a step back and screamed so loud it was heard for miles round.

Fifteen minutes later Joey found himself at the doctor's office, sitting on an examination table, wearing Rati's stone around his neck.

The door softly opened and the doctor walked in, "Hey Joey!" He smiled and raised his hand, this time receiving a full-fledged 'hi-five.'

"He's standing! And walking! What did that Viagra do?" Joey's mother shouted.

"Come now, Viagra maybe called a miracle drug but I don't even remember prescribing it to such a young kid." The doctor smiled and muttered. He fingered through Joey's medical file. Slowly the doctor's smile faded as he quickly re-read all the entries. "Amazing, I don't remember any of this, surely I'd remember treating a quadriplegic child for so many years. According to this I was there for an emergency surgery conducted at 4 A.M. I don't remember anything at all listed here. If file is right… we just might have a miracle on our hands after all," he muttered in astonishment. "Joey, let me see your legs."

Joey rolled up his own pants and showed off his lightly tanned, fleshy, fully muscled legs.

"Astounding. Joey, any ideas on what caused this?"

"Rati gave me her magic necklace," Joey answered holding the stone pendant up slightly.

"Rati's a Rattata, it's impossible for her to give anything like this," his mother responded.

The doctor sat down and placed his hand over his mouth as he thought. Several minutes passed before he broke the silence, "I think it really is magic. There's no way medicine could possible do something like this in a matter of days."

"It didn't even take a couple of minutes after she gave me the necklace," Joey interjected, smiling proudly.

"Doctor, you don't really think a Rattata could possibly cause such a change?" his mother questioned.

"Who's to say the magic doesn't know when it's time for its spell to end?" The doctor shrugged, "Maybe you saw her as a rat this whole time as the stone prepared to go to a new owner, or maybe, you saw a child and everyone's memories have been over written with memories of a normal Rattata. We may never know."

From this point time passed normally, Joey ran outside with the other kids his age. He experienced walking through grass and on pebbles bare footed. He ran until he was out of breath and he engaged in Pokémon battles with a Rattata named 'Rati' beside him.

_**A/N:**__yay! I've reached the end! I have had this idea in my head for the better part of a year, I really wanted to write it. Originally it was going to be a one shot but the more I thought about it the more it came to have a bigger life of its own._

_The quadriplegic idea came from watching_ _the big brother of a good friend of mine. He's an incomplete quadriplegic as well and he has been through so much. Unable to grasp small objects, barely able to move his arms, his legs are always sticking out at strange angles and he's unable to move them. Their mother must be a living saint. She, my friend, and their step dad is his only form of contact, and most of the time the only one in the house his their mother. She has to help him with so much, lifting him in and out of his chair multiple times a day among other things._

_Thanks to Temp777 for beta-ing this story!  
_

_Keep your eyes open for my next story, it'll be a comedy (both this and my previous story 'Here we stand in the Morning Dew' were depressing enough that I feel starved for something funny) staring the question: what would happen if an alien landed in Jhoto? The title to keep an eye open for will be: 'Complex'  
_

_**Thank you for reading, please review.** Let me know what you thought and what I can do better for the next story I write.  
_


End file.
